Screen printing or “silk-screening” is a printing technique that has been around for centuries in which a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate (e.g., paper or fabric), except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. Typically, a blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh apertures with ink and press the screen onto the substrate, such that the ink wets the substrate where not blocked by the stencil, leaving the ink behind when the screen is removed from the substrate. One color (or a single mixture of colors) is printed at a time so that several screens can be used to produce a multicolored image or design.
Enhancements to silk-screening have occurred over time, such as rotary multi-screen manual systems, automated silk-screening assembly lines, continuous rotating cylinder printing, and others (e.g., heat transfer vinyl (HTV) or transfer printing). However, more recent advancements in technology have adapted inkjet printing for fabrics (e.g., tee shirts), allowing for greater flexibility in design and processing. For example, colorful pictures and intricate patterns can easily be created and transferred to a fabric surface in high resolution through computerized ink jets with various colored inks in a process typically referred to in the art as “direct to garment” (DTG) inkjet printing. However, inkjet printing on fabrics still presents various issues, and there remains room for improvement in terms of image quality and production speed.